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Apr 29, 2011

If I were to put a theme to this month, it would be Travel, phew! We have been packing our bags up and place-hopping every weekend of this month (including this one) - to back-home Kerala for routine visits and many, many functions, and a week in gorgeous Sikkim.

Let me get off to pack up my bags again, with these pictures ... totally inspired by the welcome summer rains in Bangalore to put these up!

Apr 28, 2011

Painted furniture has its own charm. An apt choice of colors and textures can work wonders on a room brightening up corners or just being an attention-grabbing centrepiece. And I think they look best in a bright sunlit room!

Of textures, the sandpapered finish is what I love the most ... looks rustic and right-from-the-attic! I think they have a quaint old world charm.

Wonder why it isn't too common in Indian homes as yet; we still prefer to keep the original color of wood. Painted blue and yellow chairs, and coffee tables are the furthest I have seen around here.

Of all, I particularly like the idea of having a colorful dining set up, where you tease your senses not just with a plate of good food but also a color palette beneath it. And it so happens that I am fascinated by the simple rustic blues and greens, as you will see below :)

Muted yet bold colors

Ideal for a sunny brunch

Open up the windows and let the fresh air in ... air as fresh as this piece!

This table top is a series of painted wooden palettes ... love it!

Simple, awesomeness.

(Click on the pictures to go to their sources ... in the process you can discover some interesting blogs and DIY zones!).

Apr 14, 2011

There is something about kettles that I like. They have an interesting shape, it is as if pouring water through cupped hands. It speaks of hospitality, the joy of giving, and of quenching thirst.
In the same breath, one of the other things that came to my mind when I captured these in Sikkim is the magic Aarohi creates on them! I'm sure most of you have seen her stunning work!

Apr 13, 2011

Just got back from a beautiful, memorable trip to the lush green, mountainous North-East Indian state of Sikkim. What we intended as a budget trip turned out to be an awesome experience in village life and culture which is so different from ours. We covered two villages - Dzongu (restricted area for a tribe called the Lepchas, and Lingee Payong which was predominantly Nepali - stayed at some lovely homestays, met some interesting village folk, a great mountainside experience, peaceful and quiet and a super relaxant for our laptop-weary brain and senses!

Living with the villagers, eating their food, leading a fuss-free life, huffing n puffing up the steep countryside which is an everyday walk for them :) ... it was indeed a humbling experience for me and my husband. I can sum it with our host Gyatso Lepcha's words "you people must come and stay in our villages for a few days, just to realize how small we are in this world"... completely agree!!

I shall do a couple of posts on Sikkim starting with this one.

One striking thing about Sikkim and all mountain villages is their quaint and colourful wooden houses. They are usually two-storeyed ... the top for people to live and the bottom floor for storing grains and firewood. For me this was a first time, such colourfully painted homes, each with a lovely garden of potted plants - in containers varying from buckets, to paper cups, to mud pots, tiny pathways, stones and pebbles ... it was a treat to the eye as we trekked up the mountains passing one pretty home after another!

Let me show you around with a few ...

This is one of my favourites!

Here's a post office, never seen one prettier than this!! :)

Shaded green n blue

And they had a tiny, lovely garden where I saw live poppies for the first time!

This is the homestay in Dzongu we stayed at - "Mayal Lyang" meaning the hidden land, truly!

That's for now, let me stop myself from making this post any longer :) Hope you enjoyed and loved the houses as much as I did! Shall be back with more on Sikkim in a day!

Meanwhile do any of you have a post on mountain homes? Do share them, and your experiences!
I'm sharing this at Colours Dekor and the Little Red House.